


to infinity and beyond

by Trickster88



Series: i started a joke that started the whole world crying [3]
Category: Marvel Cinematic Universe, Spider-Man (Tom Holland Movies), The Avengers (Marvel Movies)
Genre: Ben Parker - Freeform, Delirium, Gen, Irondad, Peter Parker Needs a Hug, Peter Parker Whump, Protective Tony Stark, Tony Stark Acting as Peter Parker's Parental Figure, Uncle Ben - Freeform, Whump, Whumptober 2019, aunt may - Freeform, may parker - Freeform, we out here crying in this chili's tonight fam
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-10-03
Updated: 2019-10-03
Packaged: 2020-11-23 02:36:05
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,007
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/20884745
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Trickster88/pseuds/Trickster88
Summary: “Ben.”The word freezes Tony in place, and his gaze darts back to Peter’s face. His brow is scrunched, frown turning down the edges of his lips, but his eyes are open. His eyes are open and he’s staring straight at Tony.But then he says it again. “Ben.”*Written for the prompt 'delirium' for Whumptober 2019.





	to infinity and beyond

**Author's Note:**

> Day three and still chugging strong!!! I'm proud of myself. Fair warning that this is totally unbeta'd.
> 
> Written for the prompt 'delirium' for Whumptober 2019.

It happens right as the fight is winding down which, in retrospect, is primetime for something absolutely terrible to happen.

The AIM thugs are slowing - their toxic sludge contained, Wanda straining with the effort it takes to stop the shit from spreading any further than the couple of blocks they’ve been hammering out their differences in. Steve lays another grunt out on the pavement, and Peter webs the goon up half a second later, flipping onto the scene with an excited air about him.

“Didn’t your mom ever tell you to say it, not spray it?” Peter chides the AIM agent, who groans unintelligibly in response. Tony suppresses a snort, distracted by the data F.R.I.D.A.Y. is streaming into his HUD. The sludge is harmful - yes, jesus, the acidity is unreal, what were they planning to do with this crap? - but if they can keep it contained until the CDC gets onsite, everything should be fine.

Peter chatters in the background as Steve pulls off his cowl, and Tony’s not paying attention. (He should have been paying attention.)

“Hey - !” Peter’s shout of alarm turns pained, and Tony shoots off a repulsor blast on instinct. The AIM guy goes flying, and Peter doesn’t even get the chance to hit the ground - Steve is under him, catching him as he falls, in an instant.

“What happened?” Tony demands, fear lodged in his throat. Peter makes a weak noise of discontent and tries to move, but Steve holds him in place firmly, looking up at Tony grimly.

“He got the kid. Looks like an injection.” The empty syringe rolls to a stop nearby on the sidewalk, and Tony knows Steve can hear the way his heart skips a beat, but fuck, he’s not going to be embarrassed about it.

“He _ injected _ him? With what - _ that? _” 

The sludge bubbles and oozes on the pavement, wisps of Wanda’s red magic corralling it within her boundaries. Steve nods once, jaw tight, and Peter hisses, one gloved hand pressed against his neck. 

“Ow, ow, ow that stings,” Peter tips his head back, and Tony can’t see his face with the mask on, but he can practically see the way it would twist in pain. 

“Yeah, I _ bet _.” Tony holds his arms out. “Hand him over, Uncle Sam.”

“Tony - ”

He doesn’t even wait for Steve’s half-assed argument about why Tony should be focused on containing the sludge; he tucks armored arms underneath Peter’s chest and legs, lifting him up and away from Steve. The other man knows better than to press the argument, even though his brow is furrowed, caught between responsibility and worry.

But the kid’s not a soldier - hell, he’s not even a full-fledged, card-carrying _ Avenger _ , and Tony is getting him medical assistance _ now _ . Not later. Not after. _ Now. _

He takes off into the sky without another word, and Peter shifts uncomfortably in his arms. “Mr. Stark, it - it’s starting to burn.”

“Yeah kid,” Tony doesn’t look down, because he _ can’t _, and F.R.I.D.A.Y. increases thrust by 40% without him having to ask her. “Mysterious, nefarious bad guy cocktails injected directly into your bloodstream tend to do that.”

“Oh,” Peter says. “Gross.”

And then he passes out. F.R.I.D.A.Y. increases thrust by 80% without a word.

***

“First things first,” Bruce adjusts his glasses nervously before folding his hands together, shoulders pulled in the middle. Tony watches him severely for a moment before his gaze is drawn back to Peter, laid out on one of the medical beds. “He’s going to be fine. Well, probably.”

“_ Probably? _”

“He’s _ fine _ . He’ll be fine.” Bruce doesn’t sound any more convincing than he did the first time, and the awkward smile he offers Tony really doesn’t help matters. Bruce is a genius, sure, but his bedside manner is total shit. “Look, I’m not a chemist, okay? But the compound he was injected with is pretty basic. What’s important, though, is that if someone without his enhancements was injected with it? They’d be dead. So _ he’ll be fine _, but, you know, he’s lucky.”

“Why is he still unconscious?” Tony asks, and he doesn’t mean for it to come out as harsh as it does. Bruce sighs and gives him a helpless shrug, which _ really _doesn’t make Tony feel any better.

“The body shuts down to protect itself. His immune system can fight more effectively if his brain isn’t focused on keeping him walking and talking.” Bruce spreads his hands apologetically, and for the first time, Tony can see a twinge of annoyance. “I’m _ not that kind of doctor _, Tony. I don't know for sure.”

“Can we do anything for him?” He hates this, just having to _ wait _. Tony’s never met a problem that solved itself, but here Bruce is, shaking his head.

“Keep him comfortable. Monitor his vitals, make sure his temperature stays stable...but we won’t know what kind of a reaction he’s going to have until he has it. There’s no pre-emptive here - none that wouldn’t threaten more damage, anyway. All we can do is manage his symptoms.” Bruce sighs, pushing his glasses back up the bridge of his nose. “But he’s going to be _ fine _, Tony. I really don’t think there was anything in that syringe he can’t heal from.” 

“Thanks, Bruce,” Tony suppresses his own sigh, pulling up a chair that he sits backwards in, next to Peter’s bedside. Bruce peers at him for a second before it becomes apparent that Tony’s not going anywhere - certainly not to the debrief happening upstairs - and he beats a quiet retreat, leaving Tony to his vigil. 

***

Three hours later, Peter still hasn’t stirred. 

Tony’s propped up with a tablet, going line by line over a coding project, just for something to do. It’s not enough to keep a mind like his fully occupied, but frankly, he can’t think about much aside from Peter anyway. He shouldn’t have been there - _ but I couldn’t stop him _ \- he shouldn’t have gotten hurt - _ I should have stopped him why didn’t I stop him _?

“You’re going to kill me one day, kid.” Tony sighs, folding his knuckles under his chin and just looking at Peter for a second. Easy breaths puff in and out as his chest rises and falls; he looks so peaceful, lying there, but Tony’s heart aches knowing that it could have been worse (could _ still be worse _ , they don’t actually _ know _).

“Ben.” 

The word freezes Tony in place, and his gaze darts back to Peter’s face. His brow is scrunched, frown turning down the edges of his lips, but his eyes are _ open _. His eyes are open and he’s staring straight at Tony.

But then he says it again. “_ Ben _.”

“Pete, hey,” Tony drops the tablet carelessly on the bedside table and scoots closer, resting a hand on Peter’s arm. The kid reaches over with his other hand, grabbing Tony’s wrist - not to stop him, just to hold on. “Hey.”

“Ben.” Peter says it a third time, and Tony’s mouth feels dry as the kid smiles, squeezing his wrist. He meets Peter’s glazed gaze and tries to think of something to say. Anything at all. “Miss you.”

“I - ” Tony’s throat feels too dry, and he can see quiet tears welling up in Peter’s eyes and oh God, Peter really thinks he’s Ben. 

“Miss you so much,” Peter breathes, and Tony thinks he should probably call somebody, right? Now that Peter’s conscious and clearly delirious - but he couldn’t even if he wanted to, with the kid’s fingers wrapped around his wrist in an iron grip. “God, Ben - ”

Peter closes his eyes and his face twists with the effort it takes not to burst into tears, and Tony shushes him gently, rubbing a hand against Peter’s arm, something grounding. “Hey, Pete, shh, I got you. I’m - I’m here, okay? You’re okay.”

“I - I miss you too, bud.” Tony lowers his voice, because he feels like this is wrong, right? Peter’s seeing somebody completely different, someone he cares about, and Tony shouldn’t pretend like this but - fuck, he just can’t see the kid breakdown like that, when he’s not in control of himself.

“Are you okay?” Peter asks, opening his eyes again to look up at him, unfocused and teary, but at least his breath isn’t hitching with sobs. “Are you okay in - in - ”

“Shh, Pete.” Tony quiets him again, rubbing his palm slowly up Peter’s arm, from wrist to shoulder, and back down. “Why are you worried about me? Seems like we should be more worried about you, right now.”

Peter breathes out a sigh and seems to accept that, settling back on his pillows. The vitals monitor above his head seems to be holding steady, but Tony keeps a wary eye on it anyway.

“Tony’s going to be mad.” 

Tony’s hand freezes, and he has to kickstart his brain into working again. Peter stares up at the ceiling for a second before allowing his head to loll to the side so he can look at Tony again, sheepish smile pulling at his mouth. “You should see him and May, it’s like a...guilt tornado.”

“A guilt tornado?” Tony repeats dumbly, and Peter snorts, shifting closer to the edge of the bed - closer to Tony. 

“Yeah. They bounce off each other.” Peter’s eyes fall shut, only to open again, like his body’s trying to force him back to sleep, and he won’t let it. “I bet you’d laugh.”

“I think they’re just - scared.” Tony says quietly, and Peter bobs his head in a nod.

“Yeah, I know.” Peter says it like it’s true, like he _ does _ know, and it makes Tony’s chest _ ache _. But Peter smiles, something fond and sad and so full of private joy that Tony knows must be reserved for Ben. “I’m the troublemaker, and you’re the trouble manager.”

Tony doesn’t know Ben - he didn’t have the chance to meet him, had come into Peter’s life after the man had already exited it. Peter doesn’t talk about him, really, and Tony and May aren’t exactly close enough to get into extensive chats about her late husband (he wonders if Pepper might be), but he knows that Ben is a motivating factor in Peter’s life. He can see it in the clench of his jaw, in the way Peter carries his heart on his sleeve, _ on purpose _. It’s vulnerable, but there’s strength in that - Ben gave him that heart, and May gave him the will to protect it.

“You’d like him,” Peter starts again, before Tony has a chance to form a response. “Tony. He’s a lot like May. But sometimes...he reminds me of you.”

_ Oh, kid _ , Tony thinks, and Peter squeezes his wrist, a firm pressure. The tears are back, and what’s worse is that this time they look like happy tears. Peter looks up at him with so much raw _ love _that he’s almost glad the kid’s totally out of it, so he can’t clock the wetness beginning to gather at the corners of Tony’s eyes, too. “He has my back, Ben. I’m...I’m okay. You know that, right?”

“Of course, Peter,” Tony forces himself to say, wondering what the real Ben would think of him. He’d had to earn May’s opinion of him, and at first it...wasn’t much. Would Ben have come around eventually, like his wife? Would he have trusted Tony with such precious cargo? 

“I love you.” Tony murmurs, because it feels like the right thing to do (and it’s _ true _), smoothing down Peter’s hair. The boy closes his eyes, content, and smiles. “Go back to sleep, Pete.”

“Love you,” Peter hums, his grip on Tony’s wrist slackening as he drifts back towards unconsciousness, to allow his body to heal. “To infinity and beyond.”

“To infinity and beyond,” Tony echoes, and Peter falls back into sleep with a soft snore.

He doesn’t know what the real Ben would think of him - but he hopes it’s good. He hopes the man knows Peter is taken care of, wherever he might be. 

**Author's Note:**

> If you enjoyed this, please consider [the Big Bang fic](https://archiveofourown.org/works/20798009) I just finished! And if you like Ben feels, check out [the world is not kind](https://archiveofourown.org/works/19078486). It's like this but 14k.
> 
> Follow my writing blog at [thwip--thwip](http://thwip--thwip.tumblr.com) for more debatably decent content.  
[Rebloggable link](https://thwip--thwip.tumblr.com/post/188116214785/to-infinity-and-beyond-by-trickster88-ben-the) <3
> 
> Comment if you liked it! Love you all 3000.


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